Panim el Panim

Washington, DC Wants You! Join Jewish teens from around the country in a city that has it all for a teen leader – Washington, D.C. At Panim el Panim seminars teens will see all of the city’s most famous tourist sites while gaining insider access to locations like the U.S. Capitol! Teens have the opportunity to meet and lobby members of Congress, learn from advocacy experts on Israel, healthcare, the environment and today’s hottest topics, and do service projects that provide direct aid to those in need in the city.

Teens participating in Panim el Panim seminars walk away with enhanced skills as a community leader and a greater understanding of civic engagement. In addition, these skills will help strengthen your individual or regional Stand UP campaigns!

Registration is available for the 2014-2015 school year!

Panim el Panim integrates Jewish values with political action and community service during a 3-day seminar in Washington, DC. On Panim el Panim, teens interact with today’s hottest issues, leading experts, Congressional Offices, and outstanding Jewish educators.

These seminars are open to all Jewish teens! Teens are encouraged to register with friends or individually. No matter who you attend with you'll definitely go home with a new group of friends ready to change the world!

Ready to Register?

GROUP REGISTRATION:To register to bring a delegation or group of participants, please fill out the group registration form. We'll be in touch shortly!INDIVIDUAL REGISTRATION: If you are signing up for a Panim el Panim seminar as an indivdual teen, or with friends you can now sign up online! To register, please click below on the date you would like to attend. - December 7-9, 2014- March 29-31, 2015

Tell Me More! / Frequently Asked Questions

"Dates & Numbers" (Financial and Deadline Information)

(1) Early Bird Registration: For each NON-REFUNDABLE $100 deposit put down by this date the agency receives a $50 discount on tuition. These deposits are only refundable until this date, after this date they are fully non-refundable.

(2) Scholarship: Individual student forms are due by this date. Scholarship awards will be announced within a week and participants will have 1 week to accept, request additional funds, or withdraw from the program. If a student requests additional funds and we cannot meet their need, we will refund their deposit amount. This is the only reason we will refund a deposit. We will work very hard to meet all reasonable requests.
Scholarship applications received after this date will be processed as quickly as possible with whatever funds remain after the first batch. Those students will not be eligible for the deposit refund.

(3) Student & VF Forms: All student & staff forms are due by this date. At this date we may have to release rooms back to the hotel and we cannot guarantee space for any teens (or staff) who have not sent in their forms.

(4) Every group is eligible for the early bird discount (if deposits are received by that deadline) and either the group discount OR the individual scholarships.

Learn more about the Panim el Panim experience at the blog, written by Panim el Panim alumni!

Who can attend?

These programs are open to all Jewish teens in 10th - 12th grade. Teens can sign up for seminars as individual participants or as part of a larger delegation. Feel free to bring a friend and share the experience together!

Are Scholarships Available?

Scholarship funding is available for a life-changing Panim el Panim experience!

Those applying for individual scholarship should complete the Individual scholarship form and submit it by the deadline for your seminar (see date chart).

For Agencies: we are still offering limited scholarship and will be offering the same models as last year. Each agency that registers will choose one of two models:-- Individual: Individuals may apply for need-based scholarship. We have limited funds allocated for each seminar so we won’t be able to review any requests for scholarship that come in beyond the deadline. Please see the “Dates and Numbers” section above. We will preference those participants who are able to leverage scholarship from other sources and strongly encourage everyone to seek outside funding as our resources are limited. When issuing scholarship awards, PANIM looks at the following criteria: Family income, Loss of job, Number of dependent children, Single parent household, Number of children in private school/college, Elderly care, Medical expenses, Unusual expenses or financial circumstances, Location. All applicants are expected to submit a personal statement as to why they wish to attend Panim el Panim and how they will “pay it forward” upon return.-- Agency: In lieu of the individual scholarships, an agency may opt to distribute funding on its own. We can award you a bulk amount against the total tuition due, based on the number of teens you bring. Please see the “Dates and Numbers” section above.

I see that the program has been shifted from 4 days to 3 days. How has the content shifted?

We have retained all the core components of the traditional seminar. We extended the first and last days and removed the DC exploration / free time.

But I’m bringing a group in from quite a distance and we want to visit the US Holocaust Museum / The National Zoo / Smithsonian Museums / other tourist sites - will we still be able to do that?

We have arranged with our new hotel to extend our room rate for a third night for any groups that wish to stay longer in DC. This will enable you to customize your group’s extended stay experience. Please speak directly to your Panim coordinator to discuss options for extending your stay – we are happy to recommend Kosher restaurants, pinpoint museums to visit, and more.

Were you able to reduce the price when you tightened the schedule?

Yes! In 2013, we were able to reduce the price by more than 25% of what we anticipated having to charge for four-day seminars that year.

This looks like a new hotel for Panim el Panim seminars. What’s it like?

This is the first time we’ve used the Holiday Inn Capitol. The hotel location cannot be beat – it’s 2 blocks from the Capitol, there’s a metro entrance across the street, and the Smithsonian mall is 1 block away. The building is shared with the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) – which certainly ups the “DC feel” of the location! The meeting space is good and they have been a pleasure to work with thus far. If the weather holds up, there’s even an internal plaza our teens can use to relax. Of course, as with any new location, we anticipate some bumps but think the new location will be well worth it.

Will the program still be providing Kosher food? Which caterer will we be using?

We are happy to be returning to Shalom’s Kosher Catering – our provider for many years. They are under the Rabbinical Council of Greater Washington. You can find more information on them here: http://www.theshalomgroup.com/. If you have allergies or are vegetarian/vegan, please be sure to tell us on your registration form and we will follow-up with you and with the catering staff.

I’m new to all this – and I still have a lot of questions…

Not to worry – we have a lot of answers! The best thing to do is email panim@bbyo.org. If we can’t answer your questions by email, we’re happy to arrange a time to talk by phone. We can also connect you with other agency professionals who have brought groups in the past.

Panim el Panim is Hebrew for “face to face.” Since 1988, 16,000 teens from more than 200 communities have traveled to Washington to participate in Panim el Panim. About 1,000 participants each year meet with Members of Congress and their staff, hear from policy experts, enjoy Washington's national monuments and historic sites and return home knowing that they have the power to make a difference!

For over twenty years, the PANIM Institute for Jewish Leadership and Values has been empowering Jewish teens to a lifetime of activism, leadership and service. Now, as a division of BBYO, PANIM continues to offer its high-quality content and experiences to significantly more Jewish institutions and teens, creating a movement of young activists ready to take on the challenges facing society and the Jewish community!

The BBYO International Conventiont has grown to be a setting for individuals across the Jewish community to learn, lead and work together toward ensuring a strong Jewish future, spearheaded by the next generation.

I am part of a truly amazing and enriching experience at the Marcus Jewish Community Center of Atlanta. I serve on the Teen JAM leadership committee, a task force for J-Serve, the International Day of Jewish Community Service for teens, which is Sunday, April 19, from 1 to 6:30 p.m.